2008 has been an interesting year, my 28th, and in this year I have learned a few things, but some really stand out:

• Do not isolate yourself in your field of expertise. If, like me, your goal is to become a proficient C# developer then you have to make sure that you constantly measure yourself against best practices. I realised that even though I was achieving business goals I was not doing myself any favours with the way I was programming in C#. I realised that my ways arent that great when I went for several interviews at several companies, and did their tests. The tests made me aware that I am not up-to-scratch with what I have in mind for myself and where I want to be.
• Consistent hard work over a consistent period of time is way better than less work and a big performance once in a while. If you get the big performances wrong then you have done nothing, but if you do things consistently over a period of time, then you achieve two important things:
  1. You build and prepare better for a bigger performance
  2. And you would not have done nothing

  This applies to programming in particular. Programming is tough, but if you spend enough DISCIPLINED time on it then it becomes less difficult, and it becomes easier to put bigger things together.

• Knowledge management is important, and knowledge transfer is also important.